Desktop Management Guide
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Desktop Management Guide
Master Boot Record Security
The Master Boot Record (MBR) contains information needed to
successfully boot from a disk and to access the data stored on the
disk. Master Boot Record Security may prevent unintentional or
malicious changes to the MBR, such as those caused by some
computer viruses or by the incorrect use of certain disk utilities.
It also allows you to recover the “last known good” MBR, should
changes to the MBR be detected when the system is restarted.
To enable MBR Security, complete the following steps:
1. Turn on or restart the computer. If you are in Windows, click
Start > Shut Down > Restart the Computer.
2. Press the
F10
key as soon as the monitor light turns green. Press
Enter
to bypass the title screen, if necessary.
✎
If you do not press the
F10
key at the appropriate time, you must turn
the computer off, then on again, and press the
F10
key again to
access the utility.
3. Select
Security > Master Boot Record Security > Enabled.
4. Select
Security > Save Master Boot Record.
5. Before exiting, click
File > Save Changes
and
Exit.
When MBR Security is enabled, the BIOS prevents any changes
being made to the MBR of the current bootable disk while in
MS-DOS or Windows Safe Mode.
✎
Most operating systems control access to the MBR of the current
bootable disk; the BIOS cannot prevent changes that may occur while
the operating system is running.
Each time the computer is turned on or restarted, the BIOS compares
the MBR of the current bootable disk to the previously saved MBR. If
changes are detected and if the current bootable disk is the same disk
from which the MBR was previously saved, the following message is
displayed:
1999—Master Boot Record has changed.
Press any key to enter Setup to configure MBR Security.
